ng 'seen my Prince,'[10] I cannot love again; nor, branded by
the shame of self-surrender, am I fit to perform 'the service of towel
and comb';[11] and of the bitterness of the long celibacy which awaits
me, what need is there to speak?

[10] Odes I. 1., X. 2.

[11] = become a bride.

"The good man uses his heart; and if by chance his gaze has fallen on
the humble and insignificant, till the day of his death, he continues
the affections of his life. The cynic cares nothing for people's
feelings. He will discard the small to follow the great, look upon a
former mistress merely as an accomplice in sin, and hold that the most
solemn vows are made only to be broken. He will reverse all natural
laws--as though Nature should suddenly let bone dissolve, while cinnabar
resisted the fire. The dew that the wind has shaken from the tree still
looks for kindness from the dust; and such, too, is the sum of _my_
hopes and fears.

"As I write, I am shaken by sobs and cannot tell you all that is in my
heart. My darling, I am sending you a jade ring that I used to play with
when I was a child. I want you to wear it at your girdle, that you may
become firm and flawless as this jade, and, in your affections, unbroken
as the circuit of this ring.

"And with it I am sending a skein of thread and a tea-trough of flecked
bamboo. There is no value in these few things. I send them only to
remind you to keep your heart pure as jade and your affection unending
as this round ring. The bamboo is mottled as if with tears, and the
thread is tangled as the thoughts of those who are in sorrow. By these
tokens I seek no more than that, knowing the truth, you may think kindly
of me for ever.

"Our hearts are very near, but our bodies are far apart. There is no
time fixed for our meeting; yet a secret longing can unite souls that
are separated by a thousand miles.

"Protect yourself against the cold spring wind, eat well--look after
yourself in all ways and do not worry too much about your worthless
handmaid,

TS`UI YING-YING."

Chang showed this letter to his friends and so the story became known to
many who lived at that time. All who heard it were deeply moved; but
Chang, to their disappointment, declared that he meant to break with
Ts`ui. Yuuan Chen1, of Honan, who knew Chang well, asked him why he had
made this decision.

Chang answered:

"I have observed that in Nature whatever has perfect beaut